Three directors win short film festival in Viseu

João Salgado, in the national competition, and the duo Joana Carvalho and Joana Rodrigues, in the local competition, are the directors awarded at the Vistashort Festival, which ended today in Viseu.

This year’s edition awarded the award for best national shorts to “Extra car last”, a film by João Salgado, according to announced tonight the organization of the festival, the Cine Clube de Viseu.

In the announcement, the direction of the Cine Club, chaired by José Pedro Pinto, highlighted that the short "explores, in an original way, the melancholy of the departure of a city and the farewell of friends, lovers and belongings that made the city their home".

In the local competition, reserved for films made by people from Viseu or shot in the city or region, the winning short film was “Malmequer em flor”, by Joana Carvalho and Joana Rodrigues.

“ A brief narrative, filmed in animated cinema and full of relevance, about neighbors who communicate only by computer”, highlighted the organization.

The directors of each of these competitions win a prize of 1,500 euros, each, for a total of 3,000 euros in prize in the two categories for best short films and, this year, the jury was constituted by Francisca Marvão, Delfim Ruas and Inês Ferreira.

At the close of the Vistashort Festival, which began on Tuesday, the First Vista award was also announced, which was awarded to “Where the fireflies are born”, Clara Vieira.

This short film, justified the organization in the announcement, “has moved the jurors by the complicity of the characters, magical atmosphere and comfortable”, and by the “subtle way in which an environmental message was transmitted”.

In this award, the panel of judges is composed of five students from the Viseu Secondary Schools – Emídio Navarro, Viriato and Alves Martins – and also from the Mariana Seixas Professional School.

The First View prize, established in 2021, is not monetary, consists of a sculpture of Liliana Velho.

Over five days, the Vista Short Film Festival, in addition to short films competitions, presented long films, concerts, a program for schools and conversations with the presence of directors.

The festival went through different spaces of the city such as the Viriato Theatre, the auditorium of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), the Carmo 81 space and also the headquarters of the association Outside the Flock, in Viseu.

According to the direction of the Cine Clube de Viseu, this year’s edition “went very well, with some sessions exhausted” and with the presence of directors, in conversations, such as José Filipe Costa and Francisca Marvão.